Process for producing a lumpy meat product

ABSTRACT

Process for producing a meat product, such as an animal food, particularly for domestic pets or the like, comprising substantially lumpy meat material on the one hand and a substantially liquid gravy on the other and which is filled into a container, such as a shell pack, tin can, etc., in which the meat raw material is cut up in frozen form to meat lumps, together with the gravy is filled into a base of the container and finally with the container base is connected in a substantially liquid and gas-tight manner a container top and in which a sterilization process takes place, characterized in that both the meat material, comprising the meat lumps, optionally accompanied by the addition of prefabricated moulded pieces with a meat or vegetable base, and the sauce or gravy, the latter in granule form, are compression moulded to a shaped article in frozen, solid, quasi-dry state and as such introduced into the base, as well as meat product produced by this process.

The invention relates to a process for producing a meat product, such asanimal food, more particularly intended for pets or the like, comprisingsubstantially lumpy meat material on the one hand and a substantiallyliquid sauce or gravy on the other and filled into a pack, such as ashell pack, tin can, film pack, etc., in which the meat raw material iscut up into meat lumps and together with the gravy is introduced intothe packing material, such as a base of a container comprising a baseand a top and finally the packing material is processed to asubstantially liquid and gas-tight pack and a sterilization process isperformed.

Meat products of the aforementioned type, such as are in particular usedfor the feeding of pet dogs or cats, have hitherto e.g. been produced insuch a way that the meat raw material is cooled to approximately -5° C.and is then cut up at this temperature and then the meat materialcomprising the thus produced meat lumps and optionally accompanied bythe addition of prefabricated meat and/or vegetable-based shaped piecesare filled into the base of the container, e.g. a known shelf or traypack, which can e.g. be produced by the deep drawing of coated sheetaluminium. As soon as the solid ingredients have been filled into thebase the sauce or gravy is added, before fitting the top and theconnection thereof with the base in a substantially gas and liquid-tightmanner, e.g. by using a covering foil or film. It is known that thegravy can be mixed with the meat material prior to introduction into thebase. In any case the gravy which, in both the known process and thataccording to the invention can contain various condiments, passes intothe base in a liquid or at least flowable state, with a varyingly highviscosity.

Even in the case of a precise volume or weight dosing of the material tobe introduced into the base and comprising a lumpy and a liquid phase,particularly as a result of the high throughput of modern fillingplants, it is unavoidable that splashed gravy will e.g. pass onto thesealing edge or rim of the base of a shell pack, which then during thesubsequent sealing of the top and base leads to a leak at the joint inquestion, which is unfavourable for the keeping quality or life of themeat product.

It has in particular been found that in the known procedure as a resultof the heat treatment during subsequent sterilization occurring onsealing the container there is a detrimental effect on the appearance ofthe container content, because at the transition between the liquidgravy phase and the solid, lumpy phase there is a pasty transition zone,which makes the container content or the meat product sometimes appearas an unattractive, uniform mass, whereas it is in fact desirable forthe lumpy nature of the meat product to be clearly visible on openingthe container and with a pronounced separation between the liquid andsolid phases. The same disadvantageous phenomenon occurs if the pack isnot constituted by a solid container, but e.g. by a film or foil pack.

The problem of the invention is to so further develop the process of theaforementioned type that the lumpy state of the meat product is improvedand the pack seal increased, whilst in particular ensuring lowmanufacturing and material costs.

According to the invention this problem is solved in that the meatmaterial, comprising meat lumps and the gravy are compression moulded toa shaped article and the latter is fed in an at least surface-frozenstate into the packing material.

The meat raw material in frozen form can be cut up into meat lumps andboth the meat material formed therefrom and the gravy, whereby thelatter is in granule form, are compression moulded to a shaped articlein the frozen, solid and quasi-dry state and as such is introduced inthe frozen, solid, quasi-dry state into the packing material.

In an embodiment of the invention, prefabricated meat or vegetable-basedshaped portions are added to the meat lumps for forming the meatmaterial.

The invention also proposes that the meat material and the sauce orgravy granules are kept at a temperature of approximately -3° duringcompression moulding. The meat material and the gravy granules can bekept at a temperature of approximately -5° during compression moulding.

According to the invention optionally the moulded article temperature onintroduction into the packing material is below -3° and preferablyapproximately -5°.

According to the invention the meat material and the gravy granules canbe mixed with one another in the frozen, solid, quasi-dry state.

According to the invention, when using a container comprising a base anda top as a pack the shaped article is produced with external dimensionssubstantially precisely corresponding to the internal dimensions of theprefabricated base.

The invention also proposes that the compression moulding of the shapedarticle should take place within the prefabricated base.

According to the invention when using a container comprising a top and abase as a pack the base can be produced simultaneously during thecompression moulding process used for producing the shaped article bycompression moulding, deep drawing, etc.

According to another embodiment of the invention during the compressionmoulding process the shaped article is enveloped in substantially gasand/or liquid-tight manner with a plastics sleeve or the like.

According to the invention optionally a material is used for envelopingthe shaped article which at a temperature suitable for sterilization istransformed into an ingredient of the meat product.

According to the invention, the container base filled with the shapedarticle is subject to a vacuum production process prior to closure.

Alternatively, the container base filled with the shaped article can begassed with an inert gas such as CO₂, N₂, etc. prior to closure.

According to the invention it is also possible to proceed in such a waythat the meat product and the gravy are sterilized prior to freezing andsubsequently, whilst avoiding a subsequent sterilization of the filledpack, are further processed until substantially a gas and liquid-tightclosure of the pack is obtained under sterile conditions.

According to another embodiment of the invention, after the productionof a substantially gas and liquid-tight closure, the pack undergoes asubsequent sterilization using pressure and heat.

According to the invention the gravy granules can be produced insubstantially oxygen-free manner from water and other condiments, suchas spices, solids, etc. It is also possible to proceed in such a waythat an inert gas, such as CO₂, N₂ or the like is used for producing thegravy granules.

According to another embodiment of the invention use is made oftwo-component gravy granules constituted by a dry component and icecrystals.

Finally the invention also relates to a meat product produced accordingto the process of the invention.

The invention is based on the surprising finding that it is possible todecisively improve the known process in the sense of the set problem, inthat the lumpy ingredients, i.e. the solid phase of the meat product tobe produced on the one hand and the liquid phase, i.e. the meat gravy onthe other which, besides solid constituents can also contain water, aremoulded together to form a moulded article preferably in the frozen,solid, quasi-dry state and optionally following corresponding mixing andwhen using a container comprising a top and a base this either preciselycorresponds to the internal dimensions of a prefabricated base or isproduced simultaneously therewith in the compression moulding process.The shaped article is preferably introduced in frozen form into thebase, so that with correspondingly precise volume or weight dosing ofthe individual components, it is possible to ensure a precise spacing ofthe upper edge of the shaped article from the sealing edge or rim of thebase or the like. This obviates any dirtying of the sealing rim or thelike, because no liquid materials are filled into the base. Subsequentlythe top can be reliably connected to the base, whilst avoiding anyforeign body influence.

According to the invention the product to be packed comprising the meatmaterial and the gravy component in moulded form and either entirely oronly surface-frozen is then introduced into the packing material ande.g. in the case of a film or foil pack it can also be provided thatunlike in the case of a solid packing component such as the base of acontainer, the shaped article is not inserted in the particular packingcomponent and is instead merely wrapped in the packing material, e.g. apacking film or foil and is then further processed to a substantiallyliquid and gas-light pack.

It has been found that by mixing the lumpy phase and the subsequentlyliquid, namely gravy phase in the frozen state, also after subsequentsterilization on opening the container the meat product has a muchbetter lumpy appearance, which is attractive from the esthetic and tastestandpoint, quite unlike the situation with the known procedure.

It is also advantageous that, according to the invention, optionally asubstantially oxygen-free gravy granular product can be used, so thatthe oxygen content within the pack is reduced and therefore the keepingquality of the meat product can be improved. As a result of a suitableprocess it is possible to produce "snowflake-like" ice crystals, whichensure an ideal compression moulding process.

Further features and advantages of the invention can be gathered fromthe following description of an embodiment relative to the attacheddrawings, wherein show:

FIG. 1 An apparatus for performing an embodiment of the processaccording to the invention.

FIGS. 2a) to d) A detail of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in different stagesof the described embodiment of the process according to the invention.

As is symbolically shown in FIG. 1 and hereinafter by an arrow orarrows, lumpy meat material 10 in the frozen state (i.e. at -4° C. inthe selected embodiment) and which comprises meat lumps, vegetableingredients, etc., as well as sauce or gravy in the form of granules 12,is fed into a buffer mixer 14, which is also at -4° C. From said buffermixer 14 the meat material and gravy granules pass in the direction ofthe arrow 16 into a compression moulding means 18, which rotates at aspeed of 450 r.p.m. and has a plurality of mould depressions 20, whichare located in a rotary plate 22 rotating at the aforementioned speedand which cooperate with a rotating knife 24 circumferentially fixedrelative to the plate 22.

The compression moulding means 18 is in a room or area with an ambienttemperature of -4° C. The moulded articles 26 produced by thecompression moulding means 18 pass through a temperature lock 28, aresubsequently placed in the bases 30 of shell lacks supplied by amagazine 32 and then there is a distribution into three processing linesaccording to the embodiment of FIG. 1, in which the bases 30 are sealedby means of a corresponding covering foil or film constituting thecontainer top.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, in stage a) of the inventive process themixture of the meat material 10 and the gravy granules 12 at atemperature of -4° is filled into the mould depression 20 of the rotaryplate 22 and naturally part of the filling is "heat" in the quasi-dry,solid state above the mould depression 20.

In stage b) the rotary knife 24 simultaneously serving as the femalemould moves over the mould depression 20 and seals the latter at thetop, cooperating with the rotary plate 22, so that the compressionmoulding operation is carried out by a male mould 34 which moves up anddown and in this way the moulded article 26 can be produced.

In stage c) the moulded article 26, which is still in the frozen stateand whose external dimensions almost precisely correspond to theinternal dimensions of the base 30, is raised and this is brought aboutby an inner die 36 located in vertically displaceable manner within themale mould 34 and is transported away in the direction of the arrow. Instage d) the moulded articles 26 are successively brought together withthe bases 30 and placed flush therein.

Although not shown in the drawings, this is followed by the sealing ofthe bases 30 with the shaped or moulded articles 26 located therein,e.g. by hot sealing with a cover film or the like.

Prior to the sealing of the bases 30 with the shaped articles 26 locatedtherein, they can be alternatively subject to a vacuum productionprocess or a gassing with an inert gas such as CO₂, N₂, etc.

The inventive features disclosed in the description, drawings and claimscan be in both individual and combined form important for realizing thedifferent embodiments of the invention.

We claim:
 1. A process for producing a meat product comprising asubstantially liquid sauce or gravy filled into a pack, said processcomprising the steps of:(a) cutting meat raw material into lumps; (b)mixing said meat lumps with a sauce or gravy; (c) compression moldingthe meat lumps and the sauce or gravy into a shaped article; (d)introducing the shaped article into the packing material in an at leastsurface-frozen state; and (e) processing the packing material such thatis forms a substantially liquid- and gas-tight pack.
 2. The process ofclaim 1 further comprising the step of sterilizing the pack.
 3. Theprocess of claim 1 wherein the meat lumps and the sauce or gravy arecompression molded in a frozen, solid, quasi-dry state.
 4. The processof claim 3 wherein the sauce or gravy is in the form of granules.
 5. Theprocess of claim 4 wherein the meat lumps and the sauce or gravygranules are maintained at a temperature of approximately -3° C. orbelow during compression molding.
 6. The process of claim 5 wherein themeat lumps and the sauce or gravy granules are maintained atapproximately -3° C. to approximately -5° C. during compression molding.7. The process of claim 5 wherein the meat lump and the sauce or gravygranules are maintained at approximately -4° C. during compressionmolding.
 8. The process of claim 1 wherein the packing material is acontainer comprising a top and a prefabricated base and the shapedarticle is produced with external dimensions substantially correspondingto the internal dimensions of the prefabricated base.
 9. The process ofclaim 8 wherein the compression molding step takes place in theprefabricated base.
 10. The process of claim 1 wherein the packingmaterial is a container comprising a top and a base, the base beingproduced in the compression molding process used for producing theshaped article simultaneously therewith.
 11. The process of claim 1,wherein during the compression molding step the molding article isenveloped with a plastic sleeve or the like in a substantially gas-and/or liquid-tight manner.
 12. The process of claim 11, wherein thesleeve is made of a material which, at a temperature suitable forsterilization, is transformed into an ingredient of the meat product.13. The process of claim 1 wherein the packing material filed with theshaped article is subject to a vacuum production process prior tosealing.
 14. The process of claim 1 wherein the packing material isgassed with an inert gas prior to sealing.
 15. The process of claim 2wherein the meat material and the sauce or gravy are sterilized prior tofreezing, and subsequently are further processed under sterileconditions until a substantially liquid- and gas-tight closure of thepack is obtained.
 16. The process of claim 2 wherein the pack issterilized using pressure and heat subsequent to the step of forming asubstantially liquid- and gas-tight pack.
 17. A meat product prepared bythe process comprising the steps of:(a) cutting meat raw material intolumps; (b) mixing said meat lumps with a sauce or gravy; (c) compressionmolding the meat lumps and the sauce or gravy into a shaped article; (d)introducing the shaped article into the packing material in an at leastsurface-frozen state; and (e) processing the packing material such thatit forms a substantially liquid- and gas-tight pack.
 18. The meatproduct of claim 17, wherein the sauce or gravy is in the form ofgranules.
 19. The meat product of claim 18, wherein the granules areproduced in a substantially oxygen free manner from water andcondiments.
 20. The meat product of claim 19, wherein the granulescomprise a dry component and ice crystals.
 21. The meat product of claim17, further comprising prefabricated shaped articles having a meat orvegetable base.